The UN Human Rights Council held a moment of silence Tuesday for "martyrs in Gaza" killed by Israeli armed forces, after a request by Iran's foreign minister.
Gaza Strip
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Manouchehr Mottaki called for the gesture on behalf of the "women and children who are nowadays under attack by the Zionist regime," the term Iranian officials use for Israel because they do not recognize the Jewish state.
"I would like ... to request one minute of silence and ask my Muslim brothers and sisters to read the fatah for those martyrs in Gaza," he asked the council president, referring to the opening verse in the Quran. The room was silent for about 30 seconds. Those present said no one stood.
Israel's UN Ambassador in Geneva, Itzhak Levanon, said, "the real news is that the international community did not respond and all the members of the Human Rights Council remained seated." He said he would have stood himself if the silence had been devoted to victims of Iranian human rights abuses.
The US mission in Geneva said it had no comment on what happened.
The Human Rights Council, created in 2006, is dominated by a bloc of African and Islamic countries, and has denounced Israel in a series of resolutions. The body has no power beyond international scrutiny.
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